'Will oppose Centre's wealth tax'

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa said on Saturday that he would oppose the imposition of wealth tax on agricultural land within 8km of urban limits by the central UPA government led by his party.

According to a press statement, a delegation of farmers led by former MP and farmer leader Bhupinder Singh Mann met Bajwa, who assured them that he would approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram on the issue.

The delegation told Bajwa that farmers in several districts had received notices to pay the tax. At this, Bajwa, who is a Lok Sabha member from Gurdaspur, remarked that the wealth tax was much higher than the per acre income from agriculture.

He agreed with the delegation that Punjab would be severely affected as municipal limits of many cities were extended to villages, and collector rates of land had also been increased manifold. Wealth tax is imposed at the rate of 1% of collector rates.

Bajwa said that the notification for imposing wealth tax was issued in 1993. "But it was not implemented," he said, assuring that the interests of farmers would be protected.